Madeira Isolates Four Tuberculosis Patients in Câmara de Lobos and Opens Screening at the Local Health Centre
SESARAM says four people in a residential area of Câmara de Lobos have tuberculosis and are isolated, with an investigation under way. Here is how contact screening works, the warning signs, and Madeira's SRS24h line.
Madeira's regional health service, SESARAM (Serviço de Saúde da Região Autónoma da Madeira), has identified four cases of tuberculosis in a residential area of Câmara de Lobos, the municipality immediately west of Funchal. In a statement issued on Tuesday night, 3 November, and reported by Lusa via RTP, SESARAM said the four people have been isolated, their clinical condition is being monitored, and an epidemiological investigation (the work of tracing how the infection spread and who may have been exposed) is still under way.
The cases are being followed by the regional Public Health Unit and by the Câmara de Lobos health centre. SESARAM said it has activated its contingency plan and stepped up prevention measures, and that the health centre has set aside space for screening and for treating the patients identified. It added that services are running normally, with no impact on the care offered to other patients.
SESARAM's statement, as reported, did not say how the four cases are linked, whether they live in the same household, or how many contacts are being screened. The statement did not appear on SESARAM's own news page when we checked on Wednesday morning.
How contact screening works
Under the guidance of Portugal's Directorate-General of Health (DGS), set out in its questions and answers on tuberculosis screening, everyone, adult or child, who has been in contact with a case of pulmonary tuberculosis should be screened, even if they have no symptoms and the contact was brief. Children under 6 and people with weakened immune systems are screened first.
- Screening combines a symptom questionnaire, a chest X-ray and an IGRA blood test; young children and immunocompromised people also have a Mantoux skin test.
- If the first round is negative, it is repeated 8 to 12 weeks after the last exposure, because only two negative rounds confirm there was no infection.
- Latent infection, where a person carries the bacterium without symptoms, does not spread the disease, but can become active later without preventive treatment.
What it means for you
For people living or working in Câmara de Lobos, the screening is being organised by the Public Health Unit through the local health centre. The DGS lists the warning signs that should prompt anyone to seek advice: a persistent cough, prolonged fever, weight loss (or poor growth in children), tiredness or night sweats.
In Madeira, the regional health line is SRS24h on 800 24 24 20, listed on SESARAM's website; your local health centre is the other route. On the mainland, the equivalent is SNS 24 on 808 24 24 24. Our report on last month's measles cases in Lisboa e Vale do Tejo explains, for that disease, what to do if you are told you were exposed.
The national picture
Tuberculosis is relatively uncommon in Portugal. The DGS's latest surveillance report, published in March 2026, counted 1,536 cases nationwide in 2024, a rate of 14.3 per 100,000 people, with Lisboa e Vale do Tejo (17.1) and the North (16.4) the highest regions. Madeira notified 20 cases in 2024, though the DGS warns that reporting failures in the islands' notification system mean their figures should be read with caution. The report's main concern is late diagnosis: a median of 81 days from first symptoms, and it calls for wider public awareness of the warning signs.
